Effect of training and development on employee productivity in Kenya’s public sector: a case study of the office of the director of public prosecutions

Abstract

Employee training and development has been pragmatically regarded as a contributor towards better productivity, motivation and general workforce skills development. Studies have shown that employees who receive regular training and development are capable of giving their organizations competitive advantages. However, this depends on how much emphasis and resources the organizations devote to the training and development process itself. This study aimed at examining the effect of training and development on employee productivity in Kenya‟s public sector taking the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions as a case study. Literature review discussed the following based on other scholars contribution to the subject, overview of training and development, training and development benefits, the training process, methods and types of training and development and evaluation of the training and development. The study adopted a case study approach where data was collected across a population through sampling. Six cadres of members of staff at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions head office were used in which the target population was 117 employees who included management level, supervisory level and operations and support level. Primary data was collected by use of a structured questionnaire containingboth open and close-ended questions across the strata and secondary data was gathered from various sources such as the ODPP strategic plan, human resource manual, prosecutor‟s training manual, industry magazines, reports on training, books and journals on human resource management, training and development and other relevant reports and websites. The responses to the questionnaire once received were edited for completeness and consistency before processing. The data was then analysed using SPSS software and presented using descriptive statistics like distribution tables and pie charts. The results showed that ODPP has both on-the-job and off-the-job training programmes and majority of the employees, regardless of their educational background or level within the organisation had benefitted from a training and development programme. At the end of the study, it was observed that training and development has a positive effect on worker performance and productivity.